Accountability across the board

UNION COUNTY — Congressional candidate Ralph Norman says he supports President Trump’s efforts to change America’s foreign and defense policies so that the United States is once again respected by its allies and feared by its enemies.

Norman is a Rock Hill businessman who recently resigned his seat to run for the Republican nomination for the SC House of Representatives Fifth District seat. The seat became vacant with the appointment of Mick Mulvaney as Director of the US Office of Management and Budget. The primary for the Republican nomination will be held May 2 and the special election on June 20.

As part of his campaign for the Fifth District seat, Norman visited Union County on Monday, stopping in at The Union Times and then visiting Midway BBQ where he met with local residents and officials of the Union County Republican Party.

During his visit to The Union Times, Norman talked about the issues currently being debated in Washington, DC, issues that he will be dealing with if elected. Among the main responsibilities of the federal government are the foreign and defense policies of the United States of America. Norman discussed these responsibilities in light of the policies being put forward in those areas by the Trump administration, policies that Norman said emphasize holding America’s allies accountable for paying for their own defense.

“What he’s doing I agree with,” Norman said. “This country has paid for the defense of other countries that those other countries should have been paying for themselves. He’s putting accountability in, he’s going to hold them accountable for their own defense because we can’t afford to be the sugar daddy anymore.”

Norman said that Trump’s emphasis on accountability doesn’t just apply to America’s allies, however, but includes the federal government, including national defense. He said Trump is working to hold the federal government accountable across the board and that in the case of national defense, to rebuild the American military by seeing to it that the tax dollars allotted for that purpose are being used to accomplish it.

“We’ve dropped below where we were at before World War II when it comes to modernizing our weapons systems,” Norman said. “He’s working to change this by redirecting defense spending to modernizing our weapons systems instead of going to overhead. He’s bringing in military experts he can trust who will tell him where the focus needs to be. That hasn’t been done in a long time.”

Norman said that by doing this, by insisting on accountability when it comes to allies paying for their own defense while also maintaining those alliances and accountability when it comes to military spending, Trump is seeking to reverse what happened during the last eight years when “we lost our enemies’ fear and our allies’ respect.” He said that by doing this , Trump will be positioning the United States to be able — in concert with allies taking responsibility for their own defense and with a modernized, stronger military — to fulfill his campaign promise to destroy the Isis Islamic terrorist movement.

“He’s pledged to annihilate Isis,” Norman said. “Isis is his focus.”

Strengthening The Constitution

In addition to supporting Trump on foreign policy and defense, Norman said he also supports Trump’s efforts to restore and strengthen the freedoms guaranteed all American citizens by the Constitution.

“It all boils down to who he appoints as judges,” Norman said. “The appointment of (United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Judge Neil) Gorsuch to the US Supreme Court sends the message we’re going to enforce the Constitution, not rewrite it.’

Norman pointed out that, if confirmed by the US Senate, Gorsuch will succeed the late Justice Antonin Scalia who he describes as also having a judicial philosophy that emphasized the enforcement, not the rewriting of the Constitution by the courts. He added that if Trump were to win a second term he could conceivably appoint one or two more Justices to the US Supreme Court as well as countless other federal judges who enforce rather than rewrite the Constitution.

As for what this would mean, Norman said it would mean no more rulings like the one by Chief Justice John Roberts that made Obamacare law by denying a crucial reality of the legislation.

“It means not making the ruling like John Roberts did that Obamacare was not a tax,” Norman said. “It is a tax. Justice Roberts got that wrong.”

In addition to not making those kinds of rulings, Norman said judicial enforcement of the Constitution — together with the executive and legislative branches of the federal government — means strengthening the freedoms listed in the Constitution.

“It means strengthening the Second Amendment,” Norman said “It means strengthening the (First Amendment) Freedom of Speech which is a linchpin of the Constitution.”

Norman said he believes Trump favors strengthening the Constitution and the freedoms it guarantees the American people, including the First Amendment right to peacefully assemble to petition for the redress of grievances they may have. He said the right to exercise this freedom extends to those who are protesting Trump’s policies, provided that those protests remain peaceful.

“He does not have a problem with demonstrations, that’s a constitutionally protected right,” Norman said. “He does draw the line when it involves destruction of private property. There’s going to be consequences for that.”

Regulations

As a businessman, Norman said he has a great deal of experience dealing with government regulation of business and that’s why he supports Trump’s two for one policy about new governmental regulations.

“I’m excited that for every new regulation he wants to cut two old regulations,” Norman said. “As a businessman that’s down my alley because every small businessman in this country is tired of being over-regulated. This eliminating two old regulations for every new one will lead to the unleashing of the private sector and the creation of new jobs, investment, and prosperity.”